I was going to dinner at about 7:30 PM, at Fullerton and Western ( for you Chicago folk), and was at the stop light. When the light turned green I accelerated normally, when this Saturn quickly turns left right in front of me.
I was just shifting into 2nd, maybe 20 mph. I swerved left, and squeezed on the brakes, just catching his rear bumper, ripping it completely off. I remember increasing the brakes to a full on squeeze while turning, and the bike coming to a sudden stop, but the problem with that was I was at a pretty good angle, so the bike just fell over. At least I had mostly avoided him. A few not so nice words came out of my mouth at that time to the driver, as I was picking up my bike and pushing it out of the intersection. I had landed on the pavement like I tripped on something while running slowly, and with ATGATT with my Rev'it jacket and Icon jeans I was just fine, hardly any marks on my gear.
The bike is scratched on the cylinder head from dropping it, and it looks like the forks took the hit from the bumper, with a small scratch on the fender. The piece that connects the forks to the tele-lever has marks, and the fitting on the brake line is bent. The bike seems fine other than the superficial damage. Scratches from dropping it on a mountain dirt road is one thing, but this will have to be fixed.
I went over to talk with the guy, turns out he's Russian, and speaks no english, but had someone with him to translate. I asked if he has insurance, yes he does, then asked him if we should call the police or just trade info. They seemed confused, so I called Chicago's finest. They came about 25 minute's later and said they don't make reports for accidents with no injuries. So we traded info, and I called Geico to file a claim. They said I have two choices, try to file with his, or file with them, then they'll go after him. They said I'll have to pay the $500 deductible, but they will refund it if/when they get his company to pay.
So tomorrow I'll call his insurance company to see what they say. Personally, I don't want to have to deal with this myself, that's why I have insurance, among other reason's, but we'll see. I've been a Geico customer for years, but no claims, so we'll see how that little green guy takes care of me.
Overall I don't really know how to feel at this point.
Sad I'm writing this, happy I'm not hurt, and completely impressed with the R1200R's and my riding gear's performance in this situation.
Don't forget the cages are out to get you, and sometimes they will.
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) are OK. You can replace the cover or just wear it as a badge of honor as I'm doing, though I did cover it somewhat with the cylinder guards.
